Good Practices
Universal prevention programme: Your Life: Your Choice!
Programme Name:
Your Life: Your Choice!Target Population:
Universal; grade 8 students.Setting:
Family; school.Youth Involvement in Programme Development or Delivery:
Target group (13-14-year-olds) participated in needs assessment, design and pilot testing phases, as well as in the formative and summative evaluations.Youth Needs Addressed:
Alcohol use and misuse information and education.Interventions Used:
Web site, including Parent section (http://www.schoolnet.ca/alcohol); informal learning; formal instruction/training.Intended Outcomes:
Prevent onset/experimentation; more accurate understanding of prevalence of drug use; reduced use.Programme Description:
The project goal is to improve the quality and breadth of alcohol abuse prevention education in Canadian schools. More specifically, the web site contains educational resource materials for 13-14-year-olds that support the acquisition of information and the development of skills and attitudes on the use and misuse of alcohol.
A classic iterative learning approach was taken in designing the site. First, an extensive literature review was completed. Then, discussion group research was undertaken with students, teachers and parents in New Brunswick -- all reacted positively to the concepts involved in the project.
An advisory panel of teachers, addiction specialists and other stakeholders reviewed initial design concepts. A subsequent development phase culminated in pilot testing and revision processes throughout the spring and fall of 1999. Curriculum specialists in all provincial and territorial governments were consulted regularly between 1997-2000. A sequenced, phased evaluation design was developed that incorporates bench-marking student knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviour in modified pre/post-test or control/experimental research designs. Evaluation results indicate that Your Life: Your Choice! offers advantages over other opportunities to learn about alcohol (Hughes, 2000).
The Student section contains interactive web activities such as a quiz, ideas for class projects and other activities that will help students learn about alcohol. The Teacher section describes the key learning outcomes supported by the student activities, ways to use the web and classroom activities appropriately and alternate paper-based strategies should technical challenges limit class access to the web site. The Parent section contains tips for communicating with a young teen about alcohol, directs parents to sources of information on the site and introduces other parents' views on alcohol. The Information Resource Centre contains "library" materials that support the Student, Teacher and Parent sections. The Gallery is a place where teachers can post examples of students' class projects and where teachers, students and parents can share ideas about how they have used the site. A Guided Tour, Glossary and other support materials are included in the web site to facilitate on-line and off-line applications of the materials. No section is password protected.
Contact Time:
Discretionary; highly flexible modular design; contact time is appropriate to needs and available time resources.Agencies Involved in Programme Delivery:
Formal project partnership: MacGuire Mangham Associates (NS/BC), NB Tel, New Brunswick Department of Education, New Brunswick Department of Health and Community Services, Performx Inc. (ON/NB), Judy Roberts and Associates/Associ?s Inc. (ON), Universit? de Moncton and University of New Brunswick. Partnership members consulted regularly with curriculum development and addiction specialists from all provinces and territories throughout the web site development process. The Brewers Association of Canada initiated and funded the project as part of its ongoing commitment to the responsible use of its products.
Seven teachers in six schools and more than 250 students were involved in the final pilot test in English-language New Brunswick schools. To date, the web sites have been approved by the Ontario Curriculum Centre as "supporting important concepts in the Health and Physical Education curriculum for students in grades 7-9" in English and French. The English modules have been officially approved by the Curriculum Development Advisory Committee as a resource for the grade 8 Health Curriculum in the Angolphone sector of the public schools of New Brunswick. The resources have been officially approved as support materials in the Francophone sector of the public schools of New Brunswick and parts of the French-language materials have been selected as formal curriculum. Approval processes are ongoing in all other provinces and territories.
Programme Costs:
No charge for access to the national site; free copies of the web source codes (with no copyright limitations) available to provincial/territorial stakeholders to create customized versions; promotional literature available at no charge; resource personnel available to offer workshops and train-the-trainer events. For use of materials and services outside of Canada, please get in touch with the contact person.
Prevention Principles Most Reflected:
Protection and risk factors addressed: through numerous exercises, students consider attitudes and behaviours that put youth at-risk for undesirable outcomes of alcohol use - i.e. accepting rides from drinking drivers, giving in to peer influence to illegally consume alcohol in at-risk situations, learning coping skills for at-risk situations and considering alternative activities that are incompatible with alcohol use. Programme based on accurate information: via web site links, environmental scans and literature reviews, students are able to access current thinking in the alcohol education field and consider its applicability to their own schools and communities. Interactive group processes used: structured classroom activities, web site-based games and quizzes, facilitated discussions and other formats provide students with multiple ways to access information, consider its relevance to them and to their community and explore alternative ways of looking at alcohol-related issues that affect their lives.
Year Programme Established:
2000.Contact:
Ms. Judith Roberts
Judy Roberts and Associates/Associ?s Inc.
20 Prince Arthur Avenue, Suite 9G
Toronto, ON M5R 1B1
Tel: 416-929-6283
Fax: 416-929-4454
Email: judyrobe@istar.ca
Web site: http://www.RobertsAssoc.on.ca
Source:
G. Roberts, et al., (2001). Preventing Substance Use Problems: A Compendium of Best Practices. Health Canada.